You Can Have the #7 Pick in the Draft, Without Giving Up Anything!...
...But you have to be willing to take on Alexei Yashin's remaining contract.
That is,
Yashin and the Isles #1 this year for ....
...a handshake.
Would your team do it? Is it plausible that any team do it?
(We're discussing this admittedly far-fetched hypothetical over on the NYI board).
In case anyone is wondering, this is not a "Yashin hate" type trade. It's based solely on the premise that it would free NYI up from five more years of a cap-eating contract. And it is based on the reality that the only way you could possibly get anyone to even consider taking the contract off your hands is by sweetening the pot. A potential quality draft pick is the sweetener in this case.
There is no way any team would pick up Yashin's entire contract. The NYI would have to pick up some money ala Jagr deal between the Rangers/Caps.
Is that allowed under the new CBA?
I could see maybe the Caps doing it, they could use a talented center for Ovechkin and Zubrus (if they therefore switched him to the RW), and a Russian like Yashin makes sense, but it would certainly hand cuff them in the future, I think they would do it for sure if it was a three year deal, but 5 more years is tough.
Why would the Isles even bother? They can just do what everyone else did. Put him on waivers and send him to the minors. They still have to pay him, but he won't count towards the cap and they keep the pick.
For the sake of clarity (and because it's somewhat funny — not to mention horribly reminiscent for Caps fans), what is the remaining salary and term, in full?
While the Caps do seem to make a certain kind of sense, Ted Leonsis would gnaw off his own arm, I think, before he'll take on another highly misguided contract... at least, not while he's still paying Jagr to play for NY.
It's almost a shame, because AY has a certain amount of history with both Ovechkin and Zubrus.
Why would the Isles even bother? They can just do what everyone else did. Put him on waivers and send him to the minors. They still have to pay him, but he won't count towards the cap and they keep the pick.
You answered your own question: you'd still have to pay him - a lot of money -under that scenario. Charles Wang is a very wealthy man, but NYI does not print money like some franchises.
As to an earlier post: under the new CBa NYI would not be allowed to pay for some of his contract, were he traded, a la the Jagr deal of a couple years back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drake1588
For the sake of clarity (and because it's somewhat funny — not to mention horribly reminiscent for Caps fans), what is the remaining salary and term, in full?
Five years, approx. $30 mil, I believe. (I want to gnaw off my arm just typing that. )
Five years, approx. $30 mil, I believe. (I want to gnaw off my arm just typing that. )
heh, understood. There have been a few international team games, I think it might have been one of the World Cup games in Toronto just before the lockout, where Yashin and Zubrus allegedly just tore up one game... perhaps not resulting in high production, but the chemistry was apparently striking as anything. No-look passes in the offensive zone that struck a couple of people I've talked to, who were in attendance, as just jaw-dropping stuff.
Clearly, he isn't always going to give you 100 percent, but Yashin takes heat that is sometimes undeserved. Paid in the $3.5-$4M range, this isn't such a bad player at all.
So with reservations, I think Yashin might fit on this Capitals club, all things being equal. Yet it's moot, since that contract is probably least palatable to this owner, at this time, as it is to any NHL team.
Done from an Isles POV, I dont even care who the other player is. But why would Philly want Yashin?
Forsberg is out until Christmas, so a #1 center would be nice, and you could take one of our terrible contracts. We should get about $2.8 million in cap relief for Forsberg, then we'd have to juggle contracts come the new year.
Hatcher+Nedved for Yashin? That would be about $1.9 million off the cap for NYI.
With the temporary cap relief, trade of Hatcher and Nedved, and letting Desjardins, Brashear, Savage, and Stevenson go, we would be dropping a lot of the dead weight and we'd have some cap space. Also, another top center would be great if Primeau is in fact done for good (another $3.2 million right there). Trades like this almost never happen, though, especially within the division.
P.S. By my estimates, this would put us about $1 million under a $45 million cap, necessitating some moves when Forsberg returns, but Lamoriello made it happen with the Elias situation.
5, which makes your scenario somewhat unrealistic. That is simply way too long of a contract to work as a short term solution to Forsberg being out.
The only way I can see Philly doing this is if they are simply willing to spend whatever, and basically rotate Yashin to the minors whenever Forsberg is healthy and bring him up when Forsberg is not, since we of course know Forsberg will likely have health issues for the rest of his career. But even then, what do they do when Forsberg is gone and Yashin is still around? It isnt as though Yashin is good enough to live up to the expectations Philly would have for their #1 center for entire years and especially in the off-season.
5, which makes your scenario somewhat unrealistic. That is simply way too long of a contract to work as a short term solution to Forsberg being out.
The only way I can see Philly doing this is if they are simply willing to spend whatever, and basically rotate Yashin to the minors whenever Forsberg is healthy and bring him up when Forsberg is not, since we of course know Forsberg will likely have health issues for the rest of his career. But even then, what do they do when Forsberg is gone and Yashin is still around? It isnt as though Yashin is good enough to live up to the expectations Philly would have for their #1 center for entire years and especially in the off-season.
Yeah, that is not good. Hatcher is signed at $3.5 for another 3 years, too. Nedved is a 2007 free agent, IIRC. Jeff Carter will be our #1 center after Forsberg is gone (and I think he will be gone from both Philly and North America after next season). Yashin would be a crappy salary to have hanging over us once Carter, Richards, Pitkanen, etc. start making serious money. If it were 2-3 seasons of Yashin, I'd really think about it, since we need more offensive pop, and it would help us upgrade the speed and point-producing on D, but that salary is absolute murder. At least Milbury is gone, and you didn't sign DiPietro for 15 years.
If I was cruel enough to sit him in the AHL for the next half decade then I would gladly accept the deal from Toronto's POV, we can easily afford to pay Yashin to sit at home. (Upper 60M payroll usually netted over 20M in pure profit pre-lockout, couldn't be much worse now)
Sadly I'm not quite that harsh, and I'm dubious MLSE would be willing to spend 6M+ for an AHL'er, nor would any other team able to afford it.
Assuming he's not sent down to the AHL.... tough sell to anyone. Unless their almost certain they have no hope at all of competing in the next 5 years and have a management with no budget concerns no one would take it.
How many teams fit that profile?
__________________
Welcome to Leafs Nation, leave your common sense at the door.
The only team it might make sense to me to do this is a team that just wants a big cap hit to reach the salary floor. I know you can't pay part of a contract in a trade, but can you still send cash in a deal? I could see something like:
To St. Louis:
Alexei Yashin
7th overall pick
$10 million
To NYI:
a 2nd rounder, or something
It's obviously not going to happen anyways, but it does make something that resembles sense to me. The Blues would then meet the salary floor without having to actually spend all the cash, and they would add a high pick to help speed up their rebuilding process. I'll be the first to admit however, that I know very little about what sort of a situation the Blues are currently in, and I fully expect some Blues fan to come along shortly and tell me why this makes no sense, and I am a total and utter dumbass.
As a Blues fan I would strongly consider this. I am not the owner, so it is not my money that is getting "wasted" on Yashin, but I know alot of Blues fans want another top 10 pick if we can.
Yashin is not a horrible player, he is just horribly overpayed and if Checketts is willing to take the hit now, I think I would be willing to send back Eric Brewer and perhaps a 3rd round pick.
Then again, this could be why I am not a GM in the NHL.
As a Blues fan I would strongly consider this. I am not the owner, so it is not my money that is getting "wasted" on Yashin, but I know alot of Blues fans want another top 10 pick if we can.
Yashin is not a horrible player, he is just horribly overpayed and if Checketts is willing to take the hit now, I think I would be willing to send back Eric Brewer and perhaps a 3rd round pick.
Then again, this could be why I am not a GM in the NHL.
)
